A transluminal device is a flexible instrument introduced into the body for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. These devices are inserted into the body through a natural or an artificially created opening, and are delivered to a work site inside the body through a body channel, such as, for example, the esophagus, a blood vessel, etc. Examples of transluminal devices include endoscopes, catheters, etc. Although the invention may be broadly applied to any transluminal device, for the sake of brevity and as an exemplary embodiment, the invention will be described as being applied to an endoscope in this disclosure.
Endoscopes are widely used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes inside a body. There are many different uses for endoscopes, and typically, endoscope designs may be varied to optimize their performance for an intended application. For example, there are upper endoscopes for examination of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum, urethroscopes for examining the urethra and bladder, colonoscopes for examining the colon, angioscopes for examining the blood vessels and heart, bronchoscopes for examining the bronchi, laparoscopes for examining the peritoneal cavity, arthroscopes for examining joint spaces, etc. Each of these devices may include features to optimize their performance for the intended application.
In typical applications, a distal end of an endoscope is inserted into the body through a natural anatomic opening, such as, for example, the mouth, anus, vagina, etc. Endoscopes may also be inserted into the body through an incision created for the purpose. The distal end of the endoscope then proceeds from the point of insertion to a region of interest (work site) within the body by traversing a body channel. The endoscope may also include one or more lumens configured to deliver various diagnostic or treatment devices to the work site within the body. These diagnostic or treatment devices may include, among others, a light source, a viewing device, an irrigation lumen, an aspiration lumen, a temperature sensor, a heating probe, an ultrasonic sensor, a laser catheter or the like. These and other devices that may be used with an endoscope are broadly referred to as therapeutic or diagnostic tools in this application. Therapeutic tools configured for specific therapeutic tasks (such as, for example, incision, grasping, stitching, etc.) may also be delivered to the work site through the lumens of the endoscope.
To minimize patient discomfort, the diameter of an endoscope may be maintained at a size below the size of the body channel through which the endoscope passes. This size restriction may limit the number and size of the lumens in the endoscope. To minimize patient discomfort, endoscopes must also be sufficiently flexible to permit the distal end of the endoscope to follow the body cavity as the distal end progresses toward the work site. For example, as the endoscope traverses the hepatic flexure region of the digestive track, increased flexibility may be desirable. While greater endoscope flexibility may enable the endoscope to traverse tortuous body channels, it may be desirable to increase the stiffness of selected regions of the endoscope for improved maneuverability. For instance, when traversing the transverse colon region of the digestive track, increasing the stiffness of selected regions of the endoscope may be advantageous. Varying the stiffness of selected regions of the endoscope may also prevent kinking of the lumens passing therethrough.